6 Tricks To Make New Habits Stick

There is no doubt that habits play a critical role in deciding the future course of your life. Not only that, they slowly mold you as an individual. So, in a way, they are closely associated with your sense of identity, and how you project yourself to the world. Since habits play such an important role in your life, it only makes sense to comb through your daily activities and make sure that you have just the right ones. After all, one rotten apple spoils the barrel!

So, how do you do it? We have all experienced how difficult it can be to form a habit, especially healthy ones. For some reason, the human mind is attracted more to the bad ones (maybe because there is a perception of greater rewards). But if you follow science-backed methods, not only will habit-forming become easier, it will become more fun. You will then be able to consciously craft what activities you do regularly so that you can reap the maximum benefit. Below, I take a look at seven such science-backed methods.

1 | Start Small

It is human nature that we get overwhelmed by big dreams or goals. In our minds, our large goals probably seem like an insurmountable mountain. Naturally, it prevents you from taking the first few steps with conviction, and you might end up giving up. The same might happen if you try to form a significant habit. Going to the gym daily, switching to a vegan diet, meditating for an hour daily, reading books for an hour every day, etc are all significant habits and take a lot of commitment. Therefore, you might not feel like going through with them.

In this regard, the best thing to do is to start small. If you want to meditate for an hour every day, set a goal to do it for just 5 minutes every day. To your brain, this will seem like a much easier task and you will be more likely to do it. Research conducted by BJ Fogg, a professor at Stanford University, has shown that starting out with realistically achievable goals is much more effective.

2 | Exercise

You might think that exercise is in itself a good habit. So, why do I have it as a way to form other habits? Well, that’s because exercising is one of the keystone habits. A keystone habit is one that sets off a chain reaction, where a person inadvertently adopts additional good habits. This is quite literally an ingenious way to completely change your life for the better.

So, when you exercise, you are more likely to eat better, drink more fluids, wake up earlier, do your chores earlier, and even use your credit card less. This has been confirmed by Charles Duhigg, author of the book, The Power of Habit. According to him, keystone habits like exercising have the effects they do because they change the way you perceive yourself. Instead of a slouch or an underachiever, they put you into the mindset of a doer, an achiever, and a goal-oriented person.

3 | Make A Plan

Whether it is a pool party, an office project, or life, planning ensures that you achieve your end goals. Or, at least, it greatly helps towards it. Naturally, it’s no different when you are trying to form a habit. Instead of vaguely saying, “I am going to start doing X from tomorrow,” you should first sit down and lay out the details of how exactly you will enable yourself to form habit X. That way, your brain will have a clear standard operating procedure, and you will be less likely to put it off.

Researchers have actually tested the effect of planning on forming a habit. In one particular study, they wanted to encourage students to get a tetanus shot. They showed photos of what could happen if they didn’t take the shot to one group of students. And then, they gave another group a detailed map of when and where they could get a shot. Unsurprisingly, the second group fared better. 28% of the students in the second group went and got the jab while only 3% of the students in the first group did so.

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4 | Make Clever Use of Rewards

The human brain is greatly motivated by rewards. I mean, it literally has a reward system that is responsible for incentive salience, associative learning, and emotions such as pleasure. Many of the habits that you form unconsciously are actually the result of your brain perceiving them as rewards. You can use this knowledge to your advantage and motivate your brain to form only good habits. Even research shows that bribing (rewarding) people to go to the gym is effective!

In another research study conducted at the University of Pennsylvania, researchers have found a great way you can use the reward mechanism. They found that combining a “want” with a “should” works wonders. One example of this could be to let yourself listen to a song (the want) only when you read a book for an hour (the should). Another could be to let yourself eat a snack (they want) only when you finish doing the dishes or the laundry (the should). Over time, due to repetitions, you learn to do the latter without even needing the reward.

5 | Make Use of Reminders

One impediment to forming a new habit is that you simply forget about it. You may start with the expectation that you will somehow remember to do it every day but that doesn’t happen. The thing is, only when you repeat an activity for a certain number of days does it become second nature. But before that happens, you need to take measures to constantly remind yourself to do it. Thankfully, there are many ways you can do so.

Perhaps the most convenient method is to set reminders on your smartphone or computer. That way, there is no way you can miss it. You can also ask your friends or family to remind you from time to time. This will have the added benefit of accountability and you will be more likely to stay your course. Research has shown that such reminders can help people save more, reduce smoking, take medicines on time, and more. So, naturally, as soon as you think of forming a new habit, simply set up your reminder system first.

6 | Make A Habit Easy To Go Through With

I am sure you know by experience that the brain likes to do those tasks first that are easier to do. It’s the brain’s ever-present tendency to go for the low-hanging fruit. You can use this tendency of yours to form a habit effectively. One way to do that is by reducing decision fatigue. This is a type of fatigue that sets in when you make too many decisions in a day. It can even derail your motivations for starting something new.

Let’s understand this with an example. Let’s say you want to get into the habit of reading a book daily. Now, if you just scroll through an online store or visit a library and browse through the thousands of books, you will waste a lot of time trying to find the right book. This act of trying to choose is an unnecessary hurdle that can soon make you quit altogether. What you need to do instead is create a list beforehand, buy the books in bulk, and then read them one by one. You effectively make it easy on your own self to go through with a habit.

To Wrap Up

People generally do not take their habits seriously. They dismiss them as inconsequential activities that they do not have any control over. This is irresponsible on so many levels. Habits have the power to mold you into a particular type of person. The kind of habits dictates the kind of person one is. This is just logical! So, you should take conscious steps to form as many good habits as possible and get rid of as many bad ones as you can.

Sure, it will be a little difficult at first to do this. To some, this can seem like a herculean task. But if you go about it systematically, applying the methods prescribed by researchers, you will make it much easier on yourself. Just a few weeks to a few months is all it takes to completely change your life for the better. I think we all owe it to ourselves to do this.

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